


Turning Back The Clock.

by fairy_tales_are_real2



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Steggy - Freeform, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5855296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairy_tales_are_real2/pseuds/fairy_tales_are_real2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the explosion of Zero Matter at the Isodyne Energy laboratory, Peggy is miraculously transported forward in time to the Avengers compound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mysterious Circumstances.

The sound of the explosion reached Peggy’s ears before the haze. 

A black smoke-like fog that blinded Peggy completely and blotted out all light, it felt as if she were falling through an unyielding darkness and yet, was suspended upward, like one riding in a lift. 

And then as soon as it had come, it passed. The building was completely different and it’s lights were dark.

Peggy’s heart began to race.

“Where the bloody hell am I?” Peggy muttered as she began to investigate for the source of the explosion, but found nothing to indicate anything had happened at all.

_ That’s odd, _ thought Peggy as she looked around the deserted grounds, the lawn was meticulously manicured much like one of Howard’s vast estates, and there wasn’t a palm tree in sight. In fact the night was the coolest it had been since she’d arrived in Los Angeles hadn’t it been a balmy seventy degrees just moments earlier, when had it gotten so cold?

Peggy didn’t have time to ponder this though, as suddenly an individual dressed in black swooped down in front of her her, the man was tall and lean with what appeared to be mechanical wings that folded away behind his back.

“Freeze, get your hands up!” 

Peggy did as he asked, mentally sizing him up.

“Excuse me, Ma’am what are you doing here?”

Peggy tried to answer carefully, not wanting to put herself in more trouble than she probably was already in.

“I don’t really know to be quite honest with you, I’m not even sure where  _ here _ is.”

“You're at the Avengers Headquarters,”

“The Avengers?” Peggy frowned in confusion, was this another organization that she would have to take down?

“Yes, Ma’am,  now if you wouldn’t mind, could you turn around please and put your hands behind your back?” Peggy’s mind was racing as she slowly turned around and did as the man asked, waiting until he was right behind her. 

“I have located the breach, I’m bringing her in.” No sooner had he said that did Peggy strike, jamming her elbow into his gut sharply, Peggy pivoted to land a well placed kick to his side, throwing him off.

“Sorry, you’re not taking me anywhere.” Peggy said landing a punch to the jaw to keep her attack reeling as she made her escape.

“Breach is an adult female, in her late twenties, early thirties, she’s trained.” Peggy heard the man call into his radio, and not even a minute later he swooped down in front of her and landed a blow to the jaw which sent her sprawling. This put her in the position to land a blow to some very sensitive assets and get back to her feet.

While her attacker writhed on the ground in pain, Peggy stood over him.

“Look, I’m not here to cause trouble,” Peggy said firmly, “I don’t even know how I got here, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“I do mind actually,” Peggy almost had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming or seeing things, as what could only be described as a red and gold metal man descended from the sky in front of her.

“You okay, Sam?” Her attacker was still on the ground cradling his injured appendages in his hands and looking like he was about to get violently sick, he let out a cry of pain in response, “ooh, she kicked you in the family jewels didn’t she?”

Another squeak of pain.

“Okay Buddy, you just… stay down, I’ll deal with this.” Her soon to be new assailant turned his attention to Peggy, who was ready for another fight if need be.

“Now, let’s see who we’re dealing with…” the faceplate of the metal man lifted to reveal the human face of a man with a dark goatee. Allowing Peggy to see that it was more like a suit of armor than a metal man, which was a good thing, because Peggy knew even the best armor had it’s chinks.

The man in the suit looked shocked when he saw who it was he was soon to be fighting,  _ good.  _ Peggy thought,  _ my reputation precedes me.  _ She was not at all expecting what came out of his mouth next.

“ _ Aunt Peggy? _ ”

That shocked her enough to drop her fighting stance, while the man stared at her dumbfounded.

“How is this  _ possible _ ? This shouldn’t be possible!” He said, and Peggy could see the gears starting to turn in his head, just like she had seen in Howard a thousand times before, and in both cases it seem to mean that nothing good would come from it.

Still there was the more pressing—or perhaps more accurately disturbing—matter that he had called her by name, as if he knew her, Peggy was certain that she did not know this man, and certainly not well enough for him to refer to her by such  _ familiar _ terms.

“Excuse me?” Peggy asked still confused, “did you just call me ‘Aunt Peggy’? You’re are at least two to three years younger than I am, we don’t know each other and I am no one’s aunt. So whatever relationship you have imagined-”

“Are you or are you not Peggy Carter?” The man said ignoring Peggy completely and cutting her off.

“Well, yes I’m Agent Peggy Carter of the SSR, and didn’t your mother ever teach you that it is rude to interrupt someone when they are talking, who may I ask are you?” Peggy asked growing steadily more and more suspicious of the man.

She heard him mutter a curse under his breath, as he tried to figure out what to do.

“It’s a long story, I promise I’ll explain everything, but not here. Come inside with us, we’ll drop Sam off at the medical bay for the night so that he can deal with his… little problem. And I’ll find a quiet place for us to talk this whole thing out and figure out what happened.”

“And why the hell would I do that?” Peggy demanded holding her ground, the man smirked knowingly.

“Because I know you, and you want to know what’s going on just as badly as I do.”


	2. Meeting the Team.

After dropping the one called Sam off at the medical bay, Peggy was led into a sleek looking meeting room. Taking a seat across the glass table from the man, Peggy fixed him with a look that could kill a man.

“Alright, we’re alone so I’ll ask again, who are you?” Peggy asked in a no nonsense tone.

“Tony Stark, and you’re my Aunt Peggy,” Peggy sat there stone faced for a moment, processing.

“Wait did you say Stark, as in Howard Stark?”

“The one and only!” Tony said leaning back in his chair, his feet coming to rest on the table top.

“And as I told you, _Tony_ I am no one’s aunt-”

Tony made a crude buzzer noise with his mouth and cut her off again “You’re wrong, you’re my aunt, my aunt Peggy.”

Peggy gave a snort of derision, there was no way, this man had to be delusional.

“C’mon, Aunt Peg. you’ve known me my entire life, you were there the night I was born, you’re my godmother. You were there for me after my parents died!” The moment the words left his mouth, Tony looked like he wanted to take them back.

His final statement felt like a kick to the chest.

“Howard’s dead?” Tony looked at her sadly, and nodded, “how did it happen?”

“Car accident… I’m sorry.”

“Oh God…” Peggy felt her stomach roll, “and you’re his son?”

“Yes.” Tony’s voice was soft and gentle, “we’ll talk more in the morning, for now let me walk you up to a spare room and get some sleep.”

Peggy nodded numbly, and rose from her seat. She didn’t remember following Tony out of the conference room, or changing out of her clothes into a pair of cotton pajamas. But the next thing she knew she was laying in a bed staring up into the darkness thinking the same thing over and over until she eventually fell asleep, _Howard’s dead._

* * *

When Peggy woke up the next morning, it took her a moment to remember what had happened the night before. But once she did, she burst into tears. How the hell had she gotten here? One minute she was living her life, working a case in California, and the next she was uprooted and dumped God knows where and God knows when. _God knows when, bloody hell!_

Peggy’s thoughts were interrupted by the disembodied voice of an Irish woman.

“Good morning, Miss Carter. I’m F.R.I.D.A.Y., Mr. Stark requests your presence in the dining hall.” Peggy smiled to herself, _an A.I. Howard always talked about building one of those._

“Tell Mr. Stark I’ll be down in a moment.” Peggy said getting out of the bed, she found a pair of denim pants and a white top as well as some simple cotton slipper shoes waiting near the door.

Once dressed Peggy found her way down stairs to the dining hall, a sleek dining room with windows overlooking the grounds. The single table that ran the length of the room and was laden with platters full of food.

“‘Morning, Aunt Peg!” Tony said piling his plate high with waffles.

“Good morning...” Peggy said taking a seat at the table and loading her plate with toast and eggs.

“Stark, pass the bloody maries,” a red haired woman who was wearing sunglasses said as she took her seat across the table from Peggy.

“Hungover again, Romanov?” asked a blonde haired man that sat next to her.

“Piss off, Barton.”

“Guys, watch the language we have a visitor!” Tony snapped, Aunt Peggy this is part of my team, Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton, guys this is my aunt Peggy.”

Natasha peered at Peggy over the top of her sunglasses, while Clint nodded in greeting.

“You’ve already met Sam last night,” Tony continued, “the rest of our team is otherwise occupied, our recruits are already in training, and Dr. Banner our other resident brainiac is probably in his lab already, and our fearless leader is-”

“Out.” Natasha said interrupting Tony as she took a sip of her bloody mary. The moment of tense silence made Peggy extremely uncomfortable.

“Look,” said Peggy once the silence had been prolonged, “let’s get down to brass tax shall we? I am in the middle of an important investigation, my team will begin to worry if I don’t get back soon, so how close are you to figuring out how I got here and how I am to get back?”

Tony wiped his mouth and gave Peggy a serious look.

“I’ve been trying to figure it out all night, but not knowing the circumstances surrounding your coming here makes it hard to piece together.”

“And unfortunately that is classified, for the sake of the mission.” Peggy replied, “I will tell you what I can but please, get me back to my team.”

* * *

 After breakfast Peggy wandered the compound for awhile, she couldn’t stop thinking of Daniel and Howard, they must be worried sick over her, and then there was poor Dr. Wilkes.

The man had not deserved to die as he had, and it was all Peggy’s fault for putting him into that position. _If Steve were here he’d tell you that it wasn’t your fault, that Dr. Wilkes died a hero and that you should be proud of him._ Peggy thought, it had been how they had tried to keep each other sane during the war, every man that died under her watch felt like a punch to the gut, it was even worse for him. Kind, gentle Steve Rogers who only ever wanted everyone to be safe and happy.

_He would have made a great SSR agent._

A commotion up ahead pulled her from her melancholy thoughts, several men and women that Peggy assumed were employees of some sort were scurrying about just ahead.

"Excuse me," Peggy said flagging down a young woman as she rushed past her, "what is going on?"

"The Captain has returned from the field, I'm on my way to the infirmary to alert the staff their favorite patient is on his way." Peggy smiled at this, and fell into step beside the woman.

"I was a nurse, maybe I could be of some assistance," 

"I'm sure the medical staff would appreciate it, their constantly strapped for nurses with these guys," the woman said with a smirk, "I don't think I caught your name."

"Peggy Carter," Peggy said holding out a hand to shake, which the woman took and pumped two or three times.

"Maria Hill, pleasure." Matching strides, the two women hurried off towards the infirmary, unfortunately Peggy would never make it there.

"Aunt Peg, come with me!" Tony said before they could enter the infirmary, "I have some questions for you!"

"Can it wait? I was going to help in the infirmary, it seems one of your team members has returned injured." Peggy said as she signaled Maria to go on without her, Tony scowled slightly.

"I'm aware, but really this cannot wait." he said shepherding Peggy away to an interrogation room,

"Alright, Tony what questions did you have for me?" Peggy sighed taking a seat. 

"Uh yeah... questions, questions that I need to ask you..." Tony said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Well, out with it, man! I don't have all day to waste!" Peggy snapped, growing more and more irritable by the second.

"Um... yeah," he drifted closer to the door which made Peggy suspicious.

"Tony, you don't have questions for me do you... what's going on?" She asked, slowly rising from her chair.

"Nothing, well something... I promise I'll explain just... stay here." Tony darted out the door which locked behind him.

"Tony! Tony let me out, you can't lock me in here!" Peggy shouted pounding her fists on the door as hard as she could, "somebody help me, somebody _help_!"


	3. After All This Time.

Peggy wasn't sure how long she was locked in that interrogation room, it must have been hours. But all that time alone didn't lessen her anger, if anything her rage increased the longer she stewed in it. How could she have been so stupid? She should have known better than to let down her guard, to trust Tony when she knew nothing about him! 

Peggy had given up hope of anyone hearing her cries and coming to her rescue hours ago, she'd just have to wait for someone to open the door again, then she could unleash the fury that was a pissed off Peggy Carter.

The sound of approaching footsteps and yelling pulled her from her thoughts, standing up Peggy was ready to attack whomever opened that door. There was the muffled sound of arguing on the other side and then the lock clicked.

 The second the door opened, Peggy was ready, flying out of the interrogation room like a bat out of Hell. She didn't even bother paying attention to who she was attacking, becoming a flurry of elbows and fists.

 This seemed to be a fairly successful tactic, until a pair of strong arms trapped her, pinning her arms, kicking and thrashing about, she tried to wrench her arms free. 

"Easy, Peggy,  _easy._ " That voice, so warm and familiar, she had thought she would never hear it again. She froze as if hypnotized by it, it couldn't possibly be...

"That's it, Peg, you're alright." Peggy strained her neck she had to see, the gentle blue eyes that she had fallen so in love with across almost every battlefield in Europe gazed back at her, making her heart stutter in her chest.

" _Steve._ "

The sound of her saying his name brought a smile to his face, "hello, Sweetheart. Sorry I'm late." He then tore his attention away from her and addressed the room at large.

"Leave us," most of the men shuffled out without complaint, but it was Tony who lingered, stubbornly rubbing his chest where Peggy must have caught him when she was fighting.

"Tony, I said to leave," Steve said unamused that the brunette was still in the room with them. When it looked like the man was going to argue, Steve fixed him with a look that Peggy knew all too well.

It was the same look unruly privates got when Steve was playing Captain America during the war, a look that would keep any man in line. A look that said that Captain America was disappointed in you. Tony shut his mouth and begrudgingly fled, muttering something about going back to his lab.

Once they were alone, Steve released Peggy from his hold and allowed her to look at him dead on, he was exactly as she remembered him. Time had not touched him and there was no evidence of the horrible ice that he had gone to die in. Steve Rogers was alive and standing right in front of her, and she could scarcely believe it.

"I know you're probably in shock," Steve said after several silent moments of her staring at him. "I was too when I first woke up," Peggy tried to make sense of this.

"I don't understand," She said with a frown, and at the moment she was too distracted to fully understand what Steve was telling her, all she wanted to do was hold him like she had dreamed of doing since he died.

"Let's go somewhere then, you must be hungry, I'll take you out and explain everything I promise." As he spoke he held out his hand and waited for her to take it. She didn't even hesitate in taking a hold of his offered hand, earning the most brilliant smile from him.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

Steve led Peggy to a large garage space, filled with vehicles that Peggy had never seen the likes of before.

Gone were the smooth curves of the sedans that Peggy was used to, in its place was what appeared to be cars, with a lot more angles and we're painted in bold flashy colors.

While she was looking at all the cars, Steve had gone to grab some keys. When he returned he smiled at her and lead her to decidedly more modest car. Pressing a button on a small black box in his hand, the locks in the car clicked allowing Steve to open the door for her.

"I know it's not what you're use to, but I thought you would be more comfortable in here than one of Tony's toys." Steve said helping her into the car, "things have changed a bit since the forties," as he said this he pulled a piece of silky fabric with a metal loop attached across her lap and pushed the loop into a small receptacle with a slot in the top. "Don't take this off while I'm driving okay?"

Peggy didn't argue as she fidgeted with the strap, and waited for Steve to start the car. It was still all too surreal, Steve Rogers, a man that she had believed just this morning to be dead and gone. was sitting next to her in a car from the future with no explanation what so ever. As they pulled out of the garage, Steve reached over and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

They left the facility behind, driving further down the road, Peggy realized just how isolated the facility really was. According to a road sign the nearest town was five miles away. Steve drove onward in comfortable silence, pulling into a dinner called Bambino's. Helping Peggy release the catch on the safety restraint, he led her into the diner and over to an empty booth.

"Hey Steve, long time no see!" Said the friendly blonde waitress who came over to take their orders, she reminded Peggy a little bit of Angie.

"Hi Lisa, a coffee black for me and tea with lots of cream and sugar for the lady." Peggy looked to Steve surprised as their waitress hurried off to fill their order, "yeah, I remembered how you took your tea when we could get it." He said with a smile, "So... how have you been?"

"Steve, I really don't want to talk about me right now." Peggy sighed, "I'm so terribly confused."

"I know," Steve said sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Peggy... what do you want to know, I'll tell you everything." Peggy's mind was racing at a million miles an hour, she had so many questions to ask, desperately Peggy tried to get her thoughts in order before she spoke again. 

"How are you here? You crashed the plane into the Arctic, I... I listened to you..." Steve took her hands in his, silently squeezing them to indicate that she didn't have to finish that sentence.

"I did, but the serum, helped protect my body. Instead of dying I just went into a deep sleep for seventy years." Peggy frowned trying to process what he had just told her, "I know, it's crazy I don't fully understand it myself but S.H.I.E.L.D.—the modern day equivalent of the SSR—they revived me."

"And since you've been revived, how have you been?" Peggy asked, it was the question she wished more than anything someone had asked her after she had come home from war. Steve smiled warmly, and gently rubbed his thumb across the tops of her knuckles.

"I've been alright, Peg it's been hard but I've adjusted."

At that moment Lisa returned with their drinks, Peggy nodded her thanks and took a sip of her tea, it was perfect just like she liked it. Steve sipped his coffee in silence, Peggy could smell the sharp earthy perfume from where she sat.

"I never did understand how you could drink that stuff, always tasted like dirt to me." 

"Right back at you with that watery leaf juice, Carter." Steve chuckled, "no amount of milk and sugar can quiet mask the taste of earth." It was just like old times, playful banter between two people growing to love each other more and more with each passing second. The complicated matters of how Peggy has come to be in the future, and how—if it is even possible—they will return her to 1947.

For now, Peggy was happy to be sitting in a diner with a man she had previously thought dead, and act like nothing had changed after all this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and please leave a review!


End file.
